


Wakeful They Lie

by star54kar



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Poetry, Multi, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 15:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18897667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/star54kar/pseuds/star54kar
Summary: The story of three hearts that will never feel whole unless the others are safe. In the aftermath of Sora’s disappearance, Kairi and Riku try to take solace in each other, but Sora’s absence is a very bitter pill to swallow.





	Wakeful They Lie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RebeccaDarking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaDarking/gifts).



> Written for the Kingdom Hearts Exchange 2019 as a gift for RebeccaDarking. I hope that you enjoy it. I was inspired by the poem, "Counting the Beats", by Robert Graves. The italicized text in the story is quoted directly from the poem itself.

_ ******** _

 

_ You, love, and I, _

_ (He whispers) you and I, _

_ And if no more than only you and I _

_ What care you or I? _

 

_ ******** _

  
  


Sora ignored every single warning he’d received from friend and foe alike. He couldn’t afford to play it safe. Not now, not with Kairi out there all alone. Sora had been helpless as he watched Xehanort shatter Kairi into a million tiny fragments of light but he refused to fail her. He wouldn’t rest and he wouldn’t keep her waiting. Not for one more second. 

 

He followed his heart and dove deeper and deeper into the sleeping realms. The trouble was that the deeper he dove, the harder it was for Sora to keep himself together. The closer he came to recompleting Kairi, the more Sora felt pieces of his own being fade and fracture. This was going to take all of him, Sora realized with absolute clarity. Sora wanted to save Kairi with all his heart but this was going to demand even more from him. His heart, his body, his soul, everything that made him what he was would fade away from the strain of his task. 

 

But even knowing the price that he would pay, Sora didn’t hesitate for even a second. Instead, Sora dove deeper and continued to carefully collect each precious, shimmering, and shining piece of Kairi’s shattered body, heart, and soul that he found along the way. It was worth it to him-- Kairi was worth it and Sora refused to let anything, not even the loss of his very existence stand in his way. Riku believed in him--trusted him to bring Kairi back home and that was exactly what Sora was going to do. No matter the cost. No matter what happened to him. Sora’s only regret was the knowledge deep down in what remained of his being was that he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise to Riku that he would return home too.

  
  


_ ******** _

 

_ Counting the beats, _

_ Counting the slow heart beats, _

_ The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats, _

_ Wakeful they lie. _

 

_ ******** _

  
  


A chorus of voices called out her name at once, but Kairi didn’t move from her seat on the paopu tree. Frozen in shock with tears silently streaming down her face, she stared without seeing at the spot where Sora had faded away into nothing.

 

“Kairi.” Riku spoke her name with a breathless wonderment and Kairi looked up as he cautiously approached. “What happened? Where’s Sora?” 

 

“He’s gone, Riku.” Kairi sobbed through broken breaths as she slipped off the tree and Riku caught her in his strong arms. “He saved me and it destroyed him!”

 

Everything hurt. She felt guilty for breathing; for existing when the cost of that existence was more than she ever wanted Sora to pay.  

 

“He knew,” Kairi cried. “Sora knew what this would do to him and he did it anyway! I’m so sorry, Riku. This is all my fault!”

 

“No, Kairi,” Riku said softly and firmly, despite the pain in his voice that could still be clearly heard. “It’s not your fault. Sora knew what was happening to him and he made his choice. He chose you.”

 

The world reduced down to just the two of them as they grieved. Nothing else and no one else mattered. Riku guided her down to the ground, held her tightly, and Kairi desperately clung to him like a life preserver as she struggled to get her turbulent emotions under control. In the back of her mind, Kairi was vaguely conscious of Riku saying something to the others, but she couldn’t register the words. She was only aware of the feel of the vibrations of his voice against her skin from where she had buried her face into the side of his neck as she cried. 

 

When her heartbroken sobs finally began to subside, Kairi forced herself to look up at Riku. His face looked nearly as broken and lost as she felt. The two of them were equally adrift without Sora as their anchor. Riku’s eyes were wet with tears and their aquamarine color contrasted brightly against the slowly dying light of the setting sun. They were alone on the beach, the others having long since departed to give them some privacy and peace.

 

They sat there staring at each other for a long moment before Riku forced a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “It’s getting dark.” 

 

Kairi allowed him take her hand and followed silently as he carefully guided her over to his boat. She felt hallow as Riku rowed them over to the main island. She was barely aware of the journey and she blinked as they docked and Riku assisted her to her feet. Neither of them spoke a word as Riku escorted her to his house. 

 

They halfheartedly went through the motions of one of their typical sleepovers. Kairi stepped into the bathroom to wash her face, while Riku grabbed a pair of his sleep pants and a t-shirt for her to borrow. The t-shirt had belonged to Sora, but neither of them broke their mournful silence to comment on it. They changed their clothes and settled into Riku’s bed together. They pressed up against each other tightly and both of them tried to ignore the aching gap between them that Sora had left in his wake. Together, they shifted their hands to lie over each others hearts, counting each other’s slow heart beats and hoping for the oblivion of sleep that never seemed to come.

  
  
  


_ ******** _

 

_ Cloudless day, _

_ Night, and a cloudless day, _

_ Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day _

_ From a bitter sky. _

 

_ ******** _

  
  


Riku stood on the tiny island watching as the swirling storm of darkness approached. This was where it all began, when the door opened and Riku had taken his first steps along the road to darkness. Lightning flashed in the distance as the storm raged. Thick, black, smoke like tendrils of darkness emerged from the ground around his feet, swirling around him and threatening to consume him whole.  

 

Riku stepped away before it could grab a hold of him and drag him back into the dark depths he had spent so long trying to escape from. The circle of darkness persistently lingered where he stood only moments ago, but it did not pursue him. In the beginning, Riku wasn’t afraid of the darkness and he wasn’t afraid of it now. His darkness was a part of him, but it no longer defined him. Riku was in control of his darkness and his darkness no longer controlled him.

 

“Riku.”

 

Riku turned toward the bridge at the sound of his name and saw Sora standing there. He looked like a ghost, nearly transparent and flickering in and out of focus. Riku rushed forward until he closed the short distance between them and he tried to gather the smaller boy into a hug, only to have his arms pass straight through him.

 

“I’m sorry, Riku,” Sora said sadly. “I know I promised to come home too and I broke that promise.”

 

The darkness that had once gathered around Riku, burst aggressively toward Sora, swirling like a tempest as it entanged him in its dark smoky wisps. Thunder crashed and Riku was physically thrown backwards and away from Sora by an unseen force. Quickly, he recovered and jumped to his feet, keyblade ready in hand to combat against the darkness.

 

“Sora!” Riku cried out as he reached for him desperately. 

 

Sora stretched out his hand and Riku tried to grasp it, but once again, his hand passed through Sora’s as if it was made of nothing but air. The sky burst overhead and millions of shadows began to rain down from above, swirling and gathering into even more dangerous tides and towers all around them. 

 

Refusing to give up, Riku tried again to save Sora from the thick, black, darkness that had almost swallowed him completely, and this time, a light burst from the palm of his hand and connected solidly with Sora’s. 

 

“You didn’t break your promise, Sora,” Riku solemnly vowed as he gripped his hand tightly. “You just need a little help to find your way home. I’ll find you. I promise I’ll find you.”

 

“I’m sorry, Riku,” Sora said once more before the feel of his hand disintegrated completely from under Riku’s touch, and he faded away, lost in the swirl of darkness that had engulfed him. From there, the darkness rapidly spread in all directions consuming the bridge, the island and everything that it touched.

 

“No!” Riku cried as the darkness gathered and the demon tides began to descend upon him. He couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t give into the darkness. Not when Sora needed him. Riku stood tall, raised his keyblade and…

 

...woke up from his nightmare with a desperate gasp.

 

He could still feel the ghost of Sora’s hand in his own, still feel the heat of the light shared between their palms as they made their connection. Most importantly, he could feel the faint golden thread of Sora’s heart connected to his own. 

 

Fully awake now, Riku sat up in his bed and burst into relieved laughter. He had never been so happy to have had a nightmare in his life. Sora’s heart had reached out to his in the sleeping realm. That meant that there was still time. Smiling a real smile for the first time in the weeks that had passed since Sora’s disappearance, Riku finally knew what it was that he needed to do. 

 

Sora needed his  _ Dream Eater _ . 

  
  


_ ******** _

 

_ Where shall we be, _

_ (She whispers) where shall we be, _

_ When death strikes home, O where then shall we be _

_ Who were you and I? _

_ Not there but here, _

_ (He whispers) only here, _

_ As we are, here, together, now and here, _

_ Always you and I. _

 

_ ******** _

 

Kairi snuck out of her parent’s house with an ease born from years of experience and ran as fast as she could to the docks. It was quiet and no one was around as she quickly jumped into her boat and began to row toward the play island. It was a clear night and the stars were shining brightly up in the sky, twinkling like diamonds against the darkness.

 

It didn’t take long for her to reach her destination, and she hurriedly docked her boat and ran to the small island with the paopu tree. Riku was sitting on the tree; waiting for her with his eyes fixed out upon the horizon. He turned to face her as she approached and he was smiling. 

 

Actually smiling. 

 

Taken aback, Kairi froze in place at the sight. Riku’s eyes were shining brighter than the stars overhead as he told her, “I can find him, Kairi.”

 

Kairi’s heart nearly burst in relief at the news. “Then what are we waiting for?” she asked impatiently as she summoned her keyblade. “Let’s go and find him!”

 

“I wish it was that simple,” Riku said as he laughed nervously.

 

Kairi’s eyes narrowed at Riku as she asked, “What do you mean?”

 

Riku jumped off of his seat on the tree and walked over to her; took her hand with a resigned sigh and explained, “You can’t come with me, Kairi. I have to go after him alone.”

 

“Like hell you are!” Kairi exclaimed. “You are not leaving me behind again, Riku. We can go and get Sora together.”

 

“It’s not because I want to leave you behind, Kairi,” Riku said softly. “I wish I could take you with me, but I can’t. Sora is trapped in the sleeping realm. Tonight, he managed to reach out to me briefly in a dream, but wherever he got himself stuck, it’s pretty deep.”

 

“I still don’t understand why I can’t come with you,” Kairi insisted. “It’s not like before. I’m a trained keyblade wielder now. I can help you. I can help bring Sora home.”

 

“It’s not because of your skill as a keyblade wielder, Kairi,” Riku explained. “The reason I have to go alone isn’t because I’m a keyblade master, but because I’m Sora’s personal  _ Dream Eater. _ Sora and I are connected in the sleeping realm because of those powers. I can use them to enter into whatever  _ Nightmare _ Sora managed to get himself stuck in. I can destroy that  _ Nightmare _ from the inside out and I can put Sora back together again. Please understand, Kairi, even if I could bring you with me, I couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to get you back out again. As Sora’s  _ Dream Eater,  _ I can come and go from the sleeping realm at will, but I’ll need to be able to focus all of my attention on Sora just to be able to get  _ him _ out.”

 

Bitter tears burst into Kairi’s eyes as she dismissed her keyblade. She was terrified. She was angry. But she knew that Riku was right. He couldn’t afford to split his focus. Not with Sora’s very existence at stake. Devastated at the thought, Kairi whispered, “Riku, I can’t lose you too.”

 

“You won’t, Kairi,” Riku vowed as he placed a hand over her heart. “I can do this. I can find Sora and bring him home.”

 

Kairi believed in him. She was frightened, but she believed that Riku could do it. She placed her hand over Riku’s heart in turn, felt the strength of its beat for a long moment, took a deep breath and answered, “Okay, but only on one condition.”

 

As Kairi pulled away from him, Riku watched as she climbed into the tree, reached high into its branches and gathered two precious paopu fruits in her hands. With her prizes collected, Kairi jumped back down to the ground and with a fierce determination shining in her eyes, she offered one of the fruits to Riku.

 

Riku was obviously shocked. Kairi couldn’t ever remember seeing his eyes open that wide and his jaw had actually dropped. “Kai...ri?” Riku stuttered. “I don’t understand. What about Sora?”

 

“I’ve already shared a paopu with Sora,” Kairi explained, as she tried not to laugh at Riku’s dumbfounded expression. “Now I’m going to share one with you. I love you both and I want to be a part of both of your lives no matter what.”

 

Tears fell from Riku’s eyes as he slowly reached out his hand to accept the offered fruit. “I love you both too,” he whispered. “But I never expected this. I never thought I could have this.”

 

“It’s always been the three of us,” Kairi reassured him. “None of us are complete without the others. This way, no matter what happens, we’ll always be connected.”

 

Kairi lifted her fruit to his lips as Riku mirrored her and they both took a bite. The now familiar tangy sweetness burst over Kairi’s tongue as she felt the already strong bond between her heart and Riku’s reaffirm. Riku’s tears melted away and his smile was like a supernova, warm and bright enough to cut through the night sky like the beginning of the dawn. They stood together for a long moment, until Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled out her lucky charm. She offered it to Riku and said, “This will keep you safe.”

 

Riku closed his hand protectively around the charm as he accepted it and promised, “I  _ will _ bring it back to you.”

 

With the charm placed safely in his pocket, Riku stepped away from her and pulled out his keyblade. Kairi met his eyes and demanded, “Bring him home, Riku.”

 

“I will. I promise,” Riku reaffirmed as he raised his keyblade to the sky, and with a blinding flash of light, he was gone, leaving Kairi standing alone once again.

 

“Come back to me,” she whispered as she stared up at the stars in the sky. “Both of you. Please don’t leave me alone for long.” 

  
  
  


_ ******** _

 

_ Counting the beats, _

_ Counting the slow heart beats, _

_ The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats, _

_ Wakeful they lie. _

 

_ ******** _

 

Sora blinked his eyes and forced back the tears that were threatening to fall. They were back. They were  _ home _ . Sora hadn’t thought that he would ever see his home again, but he was here. This was real. Riku had come for him. Riku was here with him. Riku brought him  _ home. _

 

“Come on, Sora,” Riku said as he pulled his Gummi Phone out of his pocket with a smirk. With one arm, Riku drew Sora in close to him and dialed.

 

Kairi picked up on the first ring and she burst into tears at the sight of them. “Thank goodness you’re both okay! Are you guys on the play island?”

 

“Yeah,” Riku answered.

 

“Okay,” Kairi said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’ll be right there. Don’t either of you  _ dare _ and disappear on me.”

 

“Don’t worry, Kairi,” Sora said sheepishly. “I’ll be here. I promise.”

 

“You better be,” Kairi demanded fiercely before she disconnected the call.

 

The morning sun climbed above the horizon and steadily rose higher in the sky as Sora sat down on the sandy shore. Riku joined him with his arm still wrapped protectively around him, refusing to relinquish the physical contact.

 

“Thank you,” Sora said quietly as he turned to face Riku. “I would have been lost without you.”

 

Riku made a dismissive gesture and casually responded, “You would have done the same for me.”

 

“Of course I would,” Sora confirmed. “But seriously, Riku, thank you. I honestly didn’t think that I was getting out of that one.”

 

A long and awkward silence fell over the two of them for a moment before Riku swallowed hard and replied, “Anytime.”

 

The silence settled into something more comfortable between them and Sora rested his head against Riku’s shoulder as they waited for Kairi to arrive. It wasn’t long before Sora heard Kairi shout their names as she ran toward them. Sora finally lost the battle against his tears and they began to fall in earnest as Kairi launched herself into their arms. 

 

Riku laughed boldly and loud at the sight and the sound of it warmed Sora’s heart. “Come on, Sora.” Riku teased. “You gotta get it together.”

 

Sora gave them both a watery smile as he composed himself, and once his tears were spent, Riku reached into his pocket and pulled out Kairi’s good luck charm. Riku returned the charm into Kairi’s waiting hands with a wink and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “Here you go, Kairi. As promised.”

 

Kairi’s smile was as bright as the sun and she abruptly jumped up and pulled both Sora and Riku to their feet. “Come on,” she beconded as she began to run toward the little island.

 

Sora looked questioningly at Riku, who merely shrugged in response.

 

“Come on you lazy bums, hurry up!” Kairi called to them playfully as she ran.

 

With a shared grin, Sora and Riku chased after her. Sora laughed as he ran and he felt his heart lighten with every step as they raced to their usual spot near the paopu tree.

 

Thanks to her head start, Kairi got there first and she scrambled up the tree as quick as lightning. Before Sora knew it, she was already back on the ground and with a cheeky grin, Kairi was offering both Sora and Riku a fruit. “Okay boys,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes. “It’s your turn.”

 

Sora was puzzled. Riku froze and stared at both of them silently.

 

“I don’t understand, Kairi,” Sora said. “We already…”

 

“Exactly, Sora,” Kairi interrupted as she rolled her eyes. “You and I have shared a paopu. Riku and I have shared one too.” She reached out both of her hands offering the fruit to each of them again and repeated, “Now it’s your turn.”

 

Sora blushed as he finally realized what Kairi meant. He turned to look at Riku, who was blushing just as fiercely. His head was down and he was avoiding looking Sora in the eye. Swallowing his embarrassment, Sora accepted his fruit from Kairi and admitted to Riku, “I guess it always has been the three of us, hasn’t it?”

 

Riku abruptly snapped his head up and met Sora’s questioning gaze before his shocked look softened into an amazed smile. “Yeah,” Riku answered as he accepted his own fruit. “I guess it has.”

 

Sora and Riku each took a bite of fruit that they offered to the other and as the taste washed over their senses, Sora could feel the intensity of his bond with Riku flare and settle next to his bond with Kairi as the circle of their heart’s bonds closed. With a contented sigh, Sora and Riku joined Kairi where she had laid down, leaning up against the trunk of the paopu tree. The three of them gathered close and their hands wandered to entangle with one of each of the other’s. Then they shifted their joined hands to rest on each other’s hearts in a comfortable silence. No words were needed as they lie there, and as he felt and counted both Kairi and Riku’s slow heart beats from where they rested under his palms, Sora smiled. 

He was home.


End file.
